Asian markets tumbled yesterday and the euro was further pressured by nagging uncertainty over the eurozone as leaders of the debt-troubled region struggle to find a plan to solve the crisis.
The week got off to a poor start as investors were left unimpressed by a commitment over the weekend from G20 finance chiefs to take strong, coordinated action to avoid another global financial crisis.
They are even more nervous as Europe heads into a crunch week that will be key to the future of the region.
Photo: EPA
Tokyo fell 2.17 percent, or 186.13 points, to 8,374.13, Seoul shed 2.64 percent, or 44.73 points, to 1,652.71 and Sydney ended 1.01 percent, or 39.3 points, off at 3,863.9.
Taipei closed 2.40 percent, or 169.10 points, lower at 6,977.12. Hong Kong shed 1.48 percent, or 261.03 points, to 17,407.80, while Shanghai ended 1.64 percent, or 39.98 points, lower at 2,393.18.
Bangkok fell more than 8 percent at one point before retracing slightly to sit 6.90 percent off in the afternoon, while Mumbai was 2.23 percent lower.
Manila slumped 4.24 percent, or 164.74 points, to 3,721.22, its lowest close since September last year, while Wellington closed down 0.83 percent, or 27.34 points, at 3,255.37.
The losses extended those from last week, when some global indexes were sent tumbling to multiyear lows because of the ongoing European crisis as well as concerns over US economic growth.
The G20 meeting in Washington issued an emergency statement saying: “We ... are committed to a strong and coordinated international response to address the renewed challenges facing the global economy.”
“We are taking strong actions to maintain financial stability, restore confidence and support growth,” it said.
However, despite moves to shore up confidence in Greece, many fear the country will inevitably default on its loans, which could in turn spread to other economies and lead to another financial downturn.
Mitul Kotecha, a strategist at Credit Agricole, said: “A pledge by G20 officials to help combat the crisis gave some support to markets, but given that there were no details on how this would be done, it will not do much to alleviate market stress without some concrete action.”
Teppei Ino, an analyst at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, said the group “came short of mapping out any measures with immediate effects, so [they] have failed to stop the market’s selling of risky assets.”
A senior dealer at a major Japanese trust bank told Dow Jones Newswires: “Uncertainty will likely persist.”
The sell-off comes as the eurozone faces a challenging week with European and IMF experts due to resume a fiscal audit that will decide if Athens can access the latest tranche of rescue funds to escape default.
In addition, German lawmakers will on Thursday vote on a beefed-up EU stability fund that would permit sovereign debt restructuring, which the eurozone looks increasingly likely to need.
That vote is two days after Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou visits Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel amid speculation that a second, multibillion euro bailout for Athens crafted in July would need to be revised.
The euro slumped to US$1.3420 in Tokyo afternoon trade from US$1.3503 late on Friday in New York, while it also hit ￥102.65 from ￥103.31. However, the single currency was up slightly from the 10-year-low ￥101.94 seen earlier.
The US dollar was slightly lower at ￥76.48 compared with ￥76.50.
The greenback also extended gains against the commodities-linked Australian dollar. The Aussie — which just over two months ago hit a record above US$1.10 — slid to US$0.9693 late in the session, down from US$0.9834 on Friday.
On oil markets New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in November, fell US$1.16 to US$78.69 per barrel in late afternoon trade.
Brent North Sea crude for November delivery slipped US$1.32 to US$102.65.
Gold tumbled to US$1,599.98 an ounce by 0800 GMT, well down from the US$1,734.86 it was at by 0900 GMT on Friday, with analysts saying dealers were cashing in their investments and shifting into the US dollar as a safe haven.
It was also being sold after CME Group, which runs the online trading platform for gold, said it would raise the amount of collateral for dealers trading the precious metal.
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